All societies and human beings have a set of beliefs for ordering the world. Religion and magic are belief systems used by many societies. This essay will discuss the function and moral dimensions of both magic and religion, and focus on the need to explore human beliefs and behaviours in the context of the society in which they occur. I will also discuss the way in which magic and religion use various processes to provide psychological reassurance to individuals, leading to the conclusion that both belief systems incorporate equally rational ways of dealing with problems.
Religion can be seen as an overarching controlling force in the universe that sustains the moral and social order of the people, serving to validate people’s lives. The main purposes of religion function to set a moral code and sense of community and security, to explain misfortunes in life and most importantly, to help people through crisis and problems, providing hope and faith. There is some evidence of hostility in Western belief systems toward magic, with magic tending to be understood as an erroneous and unreliable belief knowledge system. Some anthropologists believe it is necessary to distinguish between religion and magic, seeing religion as a rational belief system and magic as irrational. Many evolutionist anthropologists maintain the belief that magic and religion equate to different stages of social evolution, holding that ‘the deeper minds may be conceived to have made the great transition from magic to religion’ (Frazer, J 1890). This phrase is misleading because it suggests that some societies are less complex, rational or primitive than other ‘advanced’ societies, enhancing the common misconception that religion is a more rational way of dealing with problems than magic is. Religion is generally associated with developed cultures and magic is associated with undeveloped, so-called primitive cultures, hence encouraging the idea that magic belongs to superstitious, irrational individuals with limited intellectual abilities.
Magic, through various forms including activities and rituals, provides a means to influence the supernatural. It is a way of gaining information about the unknown, and also gives a sense of control over events and happenings of life. Magic, like religion, provides meaning and purpose, reducing uncertainty, effectively counteracting the forces of fe...
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... breadth of experience in terms of something fundamental. There is a basic human unwillingness to think of the universe as random…For events that have moral dimensions, as unexpected misfortunes do, we often seek moral causes (Bowen, J. 1988:88). Both magic and religion, with differing methods, aim to seek patterns, causes and reasons for things. There is little point distinguishing between magic and religion. They both provide a way of dealing with problems, are rational within the context of society they exist in, and in some cases, coexist in society. Anthropologists should explore what forms of religion and magic mean to people, how they help to make sense of the world and solve problems, and how they give meaning and direction to different forms of human existence (Eriksen 1995:211).
References:
Bowen, J. R. 1998. Explaining misfortune: witchcraft and sorcery. Chapter 5 of J.R. Bowen Religions in Practice: An Approach to the Anthropology of Religion. Allyn and Bacon.
Eriksen, T. H 2001. Small Places, Large Issues: An Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology. London: Pluto Press.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1965. Theories of Primitive Religion. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
The Cross-Cultural Articulations of War Magic and Warrior Religion by D. S. Farrer, main purpose of this article is to provide a re-evaluated perspective of religion and magic, through the perspective of the practitioners and victims. Farrer uses examples that range from the following: “Chinese exorcists, Javanese spirit siblings, Sumatran black magic, Tamil Tiger suicide bombers, Chamorro spiritual re-enchantment, tantric Buddhist war magic, and Yanomami dark shamans” (1). Throughout the article, he uses these examples to address a few central themes. The central themes for war magic, range from “violence and healing, accomplished through ritual and performance, to unleash and/or control the power of gods, demons, ghosts and the dead” (Farrer 1).
In all of human history, people have written about inhuman beings, many of which include gods, demons, wizards, sorcerers, sorceresses, and witches. Nowadays mystical beings are seen everywhere in media. Most of society stopped believing in these creatures years ago, but for 17th-century Salem, witchcraft became a living nightmare (Fremon, 1999).
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. “Wicca.” The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft & Wicca. 3rd ed. 2012. Print.
The thought of magic, witches, and sorcery to be fact is seen as preposterous in modern America. Coincidence is accepted as such and accusations of possession and bewitchment is extinct. When North America was first colonized by Europeans, however, the fear of magic and the like was all too real. Alison Games’s “Witchcraft in Early North America” describes the effects of the Europeans’ on the Native Americans and vice versa. As decades progressed, the ideas on witchcraft of the Spanish and British changed as well. “Witchcraft in Early North America” introduces different beliefs and practices of witchcraft of Europeans before colonization, Native Americans after colonization, the Spanish of New Mexico, and the British Colonies.
When beginning to look at religions and cultures and their intertwining effect on each other, you can see that a religion shapes society, and equally society shapes religion. When comparing the theories of two popular anthropologists, Durkheim and Geertz, I believe that Geertz’s theory is more realistic and reliable than Durkheim’s theory. Durkheim’s theory says that religion is a joined community effort that brings people together like a social glue, and uses the definitions of the sacred and profane to distinguish what makes things religious. On the other side, Geertz’s theory holds that religion is a cultural organization, and showed that religion and society can have an impact on each other, and religion is a set symbols of that promote an emotional response, ultimate meaning, ordering of the world, and marks a special status in one’s life. When examining both theories I saw that Geertz’s theory challenges Durkheim’s theory in the definitions of the sacred and profane, Durkheim’s view of religion as a social glue of society, and Durkheim’s neglection of the individual’s use of religion impacting society.
Witchcraft is said to be the most widespread cultural phenomenon in existence today and throughout history. Even those who shun the ideas of witchcraft cannot discount the similarities in stories from all corners of the globe. Witchcraft and its ideas have spread across racial, religious, and language barriers from Asia to Africa to America. Primitive people from different areas in the world have shockingly similar accounts of witchcraft occurrences. In most cases the strange parallels cannot be explained and one is only left to assume that the tales hold some truth. Anthropologists say that many common elements about witchcraft are shared by different cultures in the world. Among these common elements are the physical characteristics and the activities of supposed witches. I will go on to highlight some of the witch characteristic parallels found in printed accounts from different parts of the world and their comparisons to some famous fairytales.
I believe that religion has to do with spirituality and having faith. On the other hand, magic is a practice and is sometimes used for good like healing people and bad, causing someone harm. Whether or not people believe in it is there choice but to me, one wouldn’t exist with out the other. Religion and magic are both very similar in some aspects but they differ in other ways too. Some people may argue that they are more similar than different since they rely on one another so much and sometimes religion can act as the foundation of magic.
Schultz, Emily A. & Lavenda, Robert H. 2005, Cultural Anthropology, 6th edn, Oxford University Press, New York, Chapter 3: Fieldwork.
Because of these applications and implications in human lives and existence, religion should be understood deeply, particularly, on how it affects the world. Looking at the American perspective of the term "religion," it could be simply understood as images of church, worship, traditions and other sacred pilgrimages. However, religion is more than that. It bears and carries heavier implications and definitions that cannot be merely based on practical applications and references. This influenced the overall development of their cognitive skills and emotional capacities.
Robinson, B. A. "Partly Real; Partly Imaginary." The History of Wicca. N.p., 30 Jan. 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
Religion is an ever-growing idea that has no set date of origin. Throughout history religion has served as an answer to the questions that man could not resolve. The word religion is derived from the Latin word “religio” meaning restraint in collaboration with the Greek word “relegere” which means to repeat or to read again. Religion is currently defined as an organized system of beliefs and practices revolving around, or leading to, a transcendent spiritual experience. Throughout time, there has yet to be a culture that lacks a religion of some form, whether it is a branch of paganism, a mythological based religion or mono/polytheistic religion. Many religions have been forgotten due to the fact that they were ethnic religions and globalizing religions were fighting to be recognized, annihilating these ancient and ethnic religions. Some of these faiths include: Finnish Paganism, Atenism, Minoan Religion, Mithraism, Manichaeism, Vedism, Zoroastrianism, Asatru, and the Olmec Religion. Religion is an imperative part of our contemporary world but mod...
Lehmann A. C. & Myers J. E. Magic, Witchcraft and Religion – An anthropological Study of the Supernatural (Fourth Edition) (Mayfield Publishing Company, 1997)
While is a common conception that pre-modern societies are primitive compared to their modern counterpart, this is not often the case, theses societies have complex systems within their society especially within their spirituality and religion. It is this complexity that has allowed aspects of pre-modern societies to evolve and adapt into modern societies. Myths, rituals and sorcery have been terms to describe the activities of pre-modern societies, but these activities have also been found to exist within modern society as well. This essay will further discuss the connections between pre-modern and modern societies that has allowed for myths, rituals and sorcery to exist in the modern societies.
III. Smithson, Jayne. “Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion.” Class lectures. Anthropology 120. Diablo Valley College, San Ramon 2004.
The Enlightenment and the emerging of modern rationalism have paved the way to a worldview where the suspicion of witchcraft is not needed to explain the mysterious phenomena of this world. This is not the case in Africa. The belief in the existence of witches, evil persons who are able to harm others by using mystical powers, is part of the common cultural knowledge. Samuel Waje Kunhiyop states, “Almost all African societies believe in witchcraft in one form or another. Belief in witchcraft is the traditional way of explaining the ultimate cause of evil, misfortune or death.” The African worldview is holistic. In this perception, things do not just happen. What happens, either good or bad, is traced back to human action, including “ancestors who can intervene by blessing or cursing the living.” Witches, on the other hand, harm because they want to destroy life. Every misfortune or problem can be related to witchcraft, especially when natural explanation is not satisfactory.